An extensive view with a lake outside Rome (possibly Lake Bolsena), with figures

Ducros' landscapes of the campagna romana combine a topographical accuracy with a feeling for nature and a taste for the sublime, as demonstrated in this watercolour and the companion lot.
His large-scale watercolour landscapes date from the years between 1784 and 1806. They were conceived on a large scale and executed on joined sheets pasted onto canvas before being mounted on stretchers for display in the artist's studio, always open to visitors. Early in his career Ducros used assistants to draw figures following a practice common in Rome in the 18th Century (P. Chessex, ‘Historical and biographical notes’, in Images of the Grand Tour. Louis Ducros 1748-1810, exhib. cat., The Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood, London, 1985, p. 23).